A Democrat in a tough reelection fight in Alaska isn't shying away from discussing reproductive rights issues.
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) released a new statewide radio ad Monday in which he hits his Republican opponents for their records on abortion, contraceptive coverage, equal pay and the minimum wage.
"Dan Sullivan and Mead Treadwell both oppose a woman's right to choose," a female narrator says in the ad. "Instead, they think it's OK for the government and employers to intrude in our personal health care decisions."
"And Mead Treadwell and Dan Sullivan both oppose raising the minimum wage," the narrator continues, adding that they "oppose equal pay for women." The narrator concludes that the two candidates are "on the wrong side of Alaska families."
A Begich spokesman told The Huffington Post that the ad is airing in South-central Alaska and Fairbanks, for roughly two weeks.
Sullivan, the former commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, is the perceived Republican frontrunner in a primary that also includes Treadwell, the state's lieutenant governor, and attorney Joe Miller, who lost to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in 2010.
This isn't the first time that Begich and groups affiliated with his candidacy have addressed potentially controversial topics head on. Earlier this month, a pro-Begich super PAC put out a television ad featuring a breast cancer survivor who discusses how the Affordable Care Act allowed her to obtain health insurance despite her pre-existing condition.
HuffPost Pollster, which combines all publicly available polling data, shows Sullivan and Begich locked in a virtual tie.
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